? Food Pantry? Weapon of choice

Curious what everyone uses for their fall deer killing....oops...harvesting.....oops.....Food gathering!?!

I drew an any antlerless tag , no bucks this year so the pressure is off, and have already filled my freezer with bow tag, so torn between my .50 .cal home built caplock muzzy pistol, .357 wheel gun, 1803 Harpers Ferry Flintlock,(same as Lewis and Clarke) , Crossbow, one of my antique .50- 70,s, my Sharps 45-70 or my AR-15, all iron sighted except the AR.

From ancient to modern state of the art - decisions, decisions.....

Kind of reminds me of those T Shirts you see in a library - too many books, too little time! Except this T shirt should be -Too many deer and gun choices, too little time!

Ya know, I have one blind on wheels 5hst is so good I leave it 8n the middle of a sharp V draw send all fall Ive had does and fawns and a few spikes walk by sometimes 3-4 yards. Sometimes I swear they’ll stick their heads in my window/gunport. Once I even had my dog with me, and a camera. Didn’t seem to bother them till she got excited and whimpered.

I’ve been trying to find someone around her that can teach Flintknapping (BSC is looking for someone for their adult fun classes- if anyone knows a flintknapper have him volunteer.!) I thought there’d be some instruction in Arizona but so far Ive struck out,

I often wonder if the G andf F might give a one time permission for handmade primitive weapons, bows and arrows, even a spear. They have given a special permission to at least one guy in the past after examining his weapons.

Would be fun though. You could throw a spear or arrow from a blind, probably not an Atladle ?sp though!

cool arsenal Bobcat! I just have a whitey doe tag for rifle, and my 90 yr old Dad has a muley doe tag (both in 4C)...I usually use an older Rem Model 7 6mm for does, but my Dad will be using that gun, so I'm going to use his old 1970 Ruger No. 1 .270 single shot for my tag. Bought both guns from him so it will be a nostalgia hunt with his old arsenal. Been wanting to get a lever iron sights gun for some closer-cover deer hunting in the future...harvested a doe with one of those many years ago and it was fun to go without optics, so wanna try that again after all the evolution of the bigger/farther scopes of late...

And since I have the doe gun tag for my meat deer, still haven't filled the bow tag...might have to do some late season tree stand/blind sitting with the old 45# recurve...

Pat, I had a Ruger number 1 in 6mm Remington once. In a fit of madness I sold it or traded it or something dumb like that! Was a real tack driver!

I’m leaning towards the Sharps or one of my 50 -70’s. I’ve never shot anything with the 50-70 Rem Rolling block yet. The barrel is pristine but I can’t keep those 450 grain lead slugs on a pie plate at 50 yards.. Trouble is, all those old antiques are heavy, and I’m not getting younger though sitting in an enclosed heated stand drinking coffee and telling campfire stories with my 85 year old rancher/buddy is pretty easy. I hate sitting much! Too twitchy....I’d sooner sneak along for 200 yards, sit down and look for deer and watch blue jays, migrating deer and outdoor stuff , then sneak another 200 yards, and so on!

The only family heirloom rifle I have is my grandfathers Marlin .32 RIMFIRE lever action that he bought from Sears catalogue with two boxes of shells in 1907! I still have the original invoice for it, and as it was bought in Canada back then, there is a handwritten “justification” in his uneducated scrawny handwriting/printing on some kind of permit with it. He had migrated from Minnesota and as he was technically a non citizen at the time, he needed this permit! He had written “butchering steers and chickens!” He always called sharp tails Prairie Chicken! It is far too light for deer and .32 rimfire ammo is non existent anyway. I fabricated a second firing pin for rimmed short colt handgun ammo. Fun but too light for ethical deer shooting. Not even sure it would be legal.

I'll be taking to the field with my trusty savage .270. Nothing nostalgic or neat about it, it's a plain old rifle but it has always got the job done for me. I have a doe tag for 3D1, definitely a ways from home but 1 deer is better than no deer, not having much luck with the archery equipment this year.

Don't practice until you get it right, practice until you can't get it wrong.

Used my .270 tikka the last few years, but going to try my luck with my new 6.5 creed in RAP. It's a blast to shoot and the accuracy is crazy for a $400 gun. Any buck for me this year, but i'm not hunting for a wall hanger the freezer is almost empty and our family goes through a lot of wild game.